Previously
- Hendrix and Mackenzie learn that Zara stole Mackenzie's 'M' pendant and had it re- engraved with a 'Z'
- Mackenzie tells Amy about Zara's involvement in the private chat about Hendrix; Amy tells Zara to get out
- Aubrey and Sadie admit to Zara that they've been trying to get rid of her ever since she arrived
- Aubrey plans to finish the job, too, apparently with the aid of some Waratah- brand kerosene
- Mackenzie tells Toadie and Amy of her doubt that Zara was involved in starting the fires
- In the school storeroom, Zara tells Mackenzie that Sadie and Aubrey are the culprits; Mack believes her
- Another blaze has broken out; their exits blocked, Zara and Mack are forced to return to the storeroom
Erinsborough High School
In another part of the school, the fire alarm is sounding, and Jane rounds up pupils - among them Aubrey and Sadie, who appear to be having an animated discussion - instructing them to head to the evacuation point outside. Susan joins the evacuating pupils, and tells Jane as she passes the smoke is coming from the art wing. Jane rushes off in another direction.
In the storeroom, Mackenzie decides she and Zara need to block the door to limit the smoke getting through to them - though there's already enough to make them cough. There's no other exit from the storeroom, except for an air vent which Zara notices...
Elsewhere, Susan and Jane reconvene again. Jane offers to check bathrooms and classrooms for stray pupils, while Susan leads the rest outside. She speaks to the fire brigade on the phone, reporting that this fire is a lot more serious than the one in the bins. She's concerned about the fire spreading to the art storeroom (where Mackenzie and Zara) are, as it will contain chemicals like turpentine and acetone.
Nearby, Sadie is panicking as she talks to Aubrey.
SADIE: This is too much! What if it all goes up?
AUBREY: It won't. Just stop freaking out. It'll be fine.
Back in the storeroom, Zara prises the air vent cover away from the wall, then begins to climb into the vent. Mackenzie goes to follow; Zara tries to pull her up, but they're struggling because of Mackenzie's broken arm - so Zara climbs back down into the room to help her up. In the process, Mackenzie's phone gets smashed; and with the smoke affecting them, Mackenzie decides she's not strong enough to get to the vent.
MACKENZIE: You have to go.
ZARA: I'm not leaving you here!
MACKENZIE: You have to go! The fire brigade will be here soon.
Zara offers Mackenzie her phone, but Mackenzie says she'll need it, and again tells her to go. Reluctantly, Zara crawls into the air vent alone, while a scared Mackenzie is left coughing in the room below.
The vents are also filling with smoke, but Zara makes good progress and presently emerges from another vent cover in one of the classrooms, before progressing along a corridor, coughing. Meanwhile Jane is running around the corridors too, with a cloth over her face, looking for pupils; she appears to hear Zara moving around and calls out to see if anyone is there, but they don't actually cross paths.
No 28
Toadie and Amy turn up to see Hendrix. Amy apologises for Zara's behaviour towards him, and says she completely understands if he wants to report the theft of the pendant - though is clearly partly here to gauge whether that's his intention. Hendrix admits he has been thinking about it; but at this point, Karl emerges and tells them all Susan has called. There is another fire at the school, which isn't yet contained.
AMY: Has she spoken to Zara?
KARL: She didn't say. I'm going down.
Amy checks the tracker app on her phone, which determines Zara's still at the school, and laments that she should have gone there herself instead of Mackenzie going.
HENDRIX: Mackenzie's at the school?!
KARL: Don't jump to conclusions, mate.
Hendrix tries to call Mackenzie, but gets voicemail. He rushes out of the door to head to the school with Karl, and Toadie and Amy follow.
Erinsborough High School
A fire engine has turned up to tackle the blaze. Susan is rallying the troops in the yard, when Zara emerges from the art wing, coughing heavily. She tells Susan that Mackenzie is still inside, in the storeroom, but hasn't seen Jane. Sadie and Aubrey are looking more worried now.
Susan rushes over to brief the fire captain, Nasri, on the situation, and tells him that Jane and Mackenzie are in the building. He asks for a layout of the school, and Susan leads him to it.
Back in the building, the flames are overcoming the corridors, setting fire posters on the walls. In the storeroom, Mackenzie is still coughing. She covers her face to limit the smoke inhalation, and lies on the floor...
In the car park, Toadie, Amy, Karl and Hendrix have arrived. Susan tells them that Jane and Mackenzie are inside. Amy hugs Zara, relieved to see her; Zara explains that she wasn't able to help Mackenzie out. Karl says the firefighters will do the job, but Hendrix isn't prepared to wait - and runs off towards the entrance of the building, unseen by the others.
Mackenzie is still coughing on the floor of the storeroom. Outside the building...
SADIE: This is seriously messed up.
AUBREY: Keep your voice down! We didn't know they were in there.
SADIE: You think that's going to matter? If my dad finds out about it...
AUBREY: He won't find out unless you lose it! Just keep it together.
Karl rushes over to Susan and asks her if she knows where Hendrix is. She doesn't, and Karl shouts out to ask if anyone else has seen him.
Hendrix is running into the art wing, determined to find Mackenzie. He quickly locates the classroom where Zara emerged from the vent, and hoists himself up into the ceiling.
Jane is still wandering around the corridors; she tells Susan on the phone that she thinks someone is still in here. Susan tells her Mackenzie is inside, but that all the pupils are now accounted for.
JANE: Mackenzie?
SUSAN: The firefighters are on it. Jane, it's too dangerous; you need to leave.
Jane promises to come out 'in a minute'. Meanwhile, Hendrix is clambering through the vents. Coughing, Jane comes across what appears to be the art storeroom where Mackenzie is. The door is stuck, and when she tries the handle, it's so hot that it burns her hand. She rushes back in the other direction.
Out in the yard, Karl, Susan and Toadie have been unable to locate Hendrix; and he's not answering his phone, either. With Jane not out yet either, Karl goes over to inform the fire captain, who heads inside with some of his team.
ZARA: I'm sure Hendrix will find Mackenzie, and he's strong enough to get her into the vent.
AMY (accusatory): Mackenzie shouldn't be in that situation in the first place. And now both of them are in trouble.
ZARA: Mum...
AMY: I swear to god, Zara, if anything happens to either of them -
ZARA: You think I did this?! I didn't do it, I swear!
Amy glares at her, disbelieving. Zara spots Aubrey and Sadie, and rushes over to them.
ZARA: It was you, wasn't it? (...) You started the fire. Tell them!
Aubrey loudly objects, and assures Susan she and Sadie weren't involved. Zara insists they're setting her up.
AUBREY: Why would we do that? You're our friend.
ZARA: Oh, really - friends?! I told them about the fire in Cairns - and then they started this fire, and are blaming it on me!
SUSAN: Zara, Zara - it just doesn't sound plausible!
ZARA: It's true!
TOADIE: Did they set the fire alarm off the first time?
ZARA: No, but -
AMY: Zara, that's enough.
In the storeroom, flames are now billowing around the door. Hendrix appears through the vent, and calls out to Mackenzie, but she's unresponsive on the ground. He leaps down and tries to revive her; she comes around, but is in a bad way. Hendrix gives her some water, then helps her up into the vent. As he follows, shelves in the room that are now ablaze begin to topple over. But they make it out unscathed.
In the vents, Mackenzie is struggling to crawl with her broken arm, weak from the smoke. Hendrix tries to hurry her along, but she's panicking and tearful, screaming that she can't do it.
HENDRIX: Look at me. You're gonna move for me, okay, please?
Mackenzie obeys and keeps moving, as a fireball flashes through an adjoining vent behind them. Hendrix helps her around a corner.
Meanwhile, Jane is still running around the corridors, coughing, seemingly looking for Mackenzie. Finding another door she can't budge, she takes a fire extinguisher from the wall and uses it to force open the door.
In the vents, Mackenzie is still struggling to move - and then appears to pass out. Hendrix tries to revive her, but she's unresponsive. Hendrix screams and bangs on the vents, hoping someone will hear him - then begins dragging Mackenzie through the vent. But he's becoming exhausted himself, and stops, before screaming and banging again.
Outside, Sadie and Aubrey are having another animated chat.
AUBREY: Sadie, you need to calm down.
SADIE: Shut up! Stop telling me to calm down; they are never going to get out of there!
AUBREY: We don't know what's happening in there. If you keep saying stuff like this -
SADIE: What? People are gonna find out what actually happened? You know, maybe they should.
AUBREY: Are you serious?!
SADIE: Aubrey, we've never done anything like this - and to this extent?! Mrs Kennedy might even go easy on us.
AUBREY: What about the police? What about your dad?
Zara, who has been on a bench nearby, comes over to confront them again.
ZARA: I know you lit the fire.
AUBREY: Zara, I swear we didn't.
ZARA: Don't lie to me!
AUBREY: You're crazy. You've gone too far this time.
ZARA: I'm crazy? You're crazy - they could die in there!
Aubrey is now lost for words, so Zara turns to appeal to Sadie.
ZARA: Sadie, please, you know how this works. If you tell the truth and she stays quiet, you won't get as badly punished. Just, please!
SADIE (upset): I'm sorry - I can't!
AUBREY: Look, alright, we'll tell the truth.
SADIE: Aubrey, no...
Aubrey is already approaching Susan; but she's not planning on telling the real truth at all.
AUBREY: We saw Zara light the fire.
ZARA: What?! She's lying!
AUBREY: We didn't think it would be this serious - but people might get hurt.
ZARA: How dare you?!
Zara lunges at Aubrey, grabs her, and throws her up against the fire engine, screaming at her. Susan tells Zara to stop, but before long, the girls are both on the floor, Zara mauling Aubrey. Amy and Toadie rush over, and Toadie pulls Zara off Aubrey.
TOADIE: That's enough! No more!
Jane then emerges from the building, with burns on her hands; Karl rushes her over to the paramedics who are on standby, and she's taken to an ambulance.
Back inside the vents, Hendrix has begun dragging Mackenzie again, with great difficulty as she's still unresponsive. As the smoke begins close in ahead of them, Hendrix begins to sob, apparently set to give up, as he hugs Mackenzie close to him.
But then we hear a voice somewhere below them - it's Nasri, the fire captain. He crawls into the vent and promises he'll get them out, then helps Hendrix to drag Mackenzie onwards.
Outside, at the ambulance, Karl is checking Jane's hands. One of them is sprained, and he says they'll need an X-ray to rule out a fracture. Jane can't even feel the burn on her hand; Karl says this is because she's still in shock. Susan tells her how lucky she was.
Nearby, Toadie and Amy are on a bench, looking across at Zara, who is sitting alone nearby.
AMY: I don't know who she is anymore.
TOADIE: She's probably cracked under the weight of everything she's done.
AMY: She attacked that girl out of nowhere. Who is she, Toad?
We see Aubrey also watching Zara from a distance, Sadie no longer by her side. Hendrix rushes out of the building holding an unconscious Mackenzie in his arms.
HENDRIX: She's barely breathing!
He puts her on a stretcher, and Karl and the paramedics take charge...
Erinsborough Hospital
One of the paramedics, Travis, is briefing David as he wheels Mackenzie into the hospital on a trolley. He explains she's suffered significant smoke inhalation, with possible airway burns and hypoxia. David says they may need to intubate and asks for a full range of tests. Hendrix is following them, and wants to know what's going on - but David stops him from going further, and says they'll do everything they can.
Hendrix is beside himself again as Chloe arrives, having heard from Susan what's happened.
HENDRIX: She was so limp when I was carrying her.
CHLOE: Hendrix, she's where she needs to be.
HENDRIX: They couldn't revive her. In the ambulance - she didn't respond to anything.
No 28
Susan and Karl have called home for a quick cuppa before heading on to the hospital to be with Hendrix. Susan gets a phone call from Nasri the fire captain. It looks like more bad news.
SUSAN: Yeah, no - you're not telling me anything that we didn't already suspect. But thanks for letting me know.
She finishes the call and tells Karl what he's said.
SUSAN: They're pretty sure that the fire was deliberately lit (...) Apparently someone soaked paper in kerosene in one of the art room sinks, and it got hold of some artwork on the wall, and... just went up. She has really done it this time.
KARL: What, you think it's Zara?
SUSAN: Oh, Karl, there are witnesses. And we know she was near the room at the time. She shouldn't even have been on school grounds.
KARL: Yeah, but... she was trapped with Mackenzie. It doesn't make sense if she started the fire.
SUSAN: I dunno. Maybe - maybe it just took hold too quickly. Maybe Mackenzie stopped to talk to her. It's the third time this month. I can tell you, it will be the last.
No 30
Toadie and Amy are in the living area when Zara comes in.
ZARA: Mum...
AMY: Just don't start with me right now. I can't.
ZARA: Mum, please, you've - you've been watching me like a hawk, and you put that tracker app in my phone. If I went to school to start the fire, I wouldn't have brought it with me. I didn't want to leave Mackenzie in there, but she made me. I've never been more scared in my life! Mum, please, you have to believe me.
But before Amy can reply, there's a knock at the door. Toadie goes to answer it; it's a police officer, Constable Arkin.
ARKIN: Zara Selwyn, I'm arresting you on suspicion of arson.
ZARA: What?! No, I didn't do it!
ARKIN: You don't have to say anything. Anything you do say may be used in evidence, do you understand?
ZARA: No, I'm not going! Mum?
TOADIE: You have to, Zara - you can't resist.
Arkin asks Zara to turn around, while Zara continues to plead with Amy to intervene.
AMY: Baby girl, you... you have to do what they say.
Arkin handcuffs Zara.
AMY: It's gonna be okay.
ZARA: It's not!
AMY: I promise.
Both of them are crying, as Amy keeps trying in vain to reassure Zara. The police officer takes Zara out of the house, while Amy sobs in Toadie's arms.
Coming up on Neighbours
Hide contents
- At the police station, Amy tells Toadie she can't do this without him
- Zara tells Sergeant Rodwell she isn't going down for something she didn't do
- Sadie asks her dad what Zara's been saying; Rodwell tells her not to worry about that
- Jane asks Amy if she's sorry because Jane got hurt, or because it was Zara's fault
- Karl, Susan and a distraught Hendrix stand vigil with Mackenzie at the hospital
